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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26629747">The Avatar and The Boy Who Fell From The Sky - Book One: Water</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverMoonlightInBrightNight/pseuds/SilverMoonlightInBrightNight'>SilverMoonlightInBrightNight</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Avatar and The Boy Who Fell From The Sky [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Avatar: The Last Airbender, Dororo (Anime 2019)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Additional Characters to be added, Alternate Universe - Avatar &amp; Benders Setting, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Bonding, Crossover, Disabled Character, Eye Trauma, Female Pronouns for Dororo, Flashbacks, Gen, Hurt Zuko (Avatar), Hyakkimaru (Dororo) is a Badass, Hyakkimaru (Dororo)-centric, Iroh (Avatar) is a Good Uncle, Iroh (Avatar) loves Tea, Martial Arts, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Rating will change, Starts Pre-Avatar: The Last Airbender, Swordfighting, Will mostly Follow Season 1, Zuko is an Awkward Turtleduck, depressed character, emotional breakdown</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 07:27:07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>15,280</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26629747</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverMoonlightInBrightNight/pseuds/SilverMoonlightInBrightNight</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Hyakkimaru, Tahomaru, Dororo, Nui no Kata and Jukai from Dororo are thrown into the world of A:TLA<br/>This work is part of a series. Please read the Prologue/Prelude first.</p><p>Hyakkimaru wakes up on Zuko's ship which is on it's way to the south pole where he will see Dororo again and where Zuko find the Avatar and start his hunt for him. On the way to the south pole, Hyakki and Zuko will make friends with each other. Hyakkimaru has been target of a man hunt before and doesn't like Zuko's obsession with capturing the Avatar (especially since the Avatar is just a child). But Zuko's hunt for the Avatar and the resulting tension isn't the only problem they encounter as Tahomaru was also thrown into this new world and he is deadset on killing his brother no matter what!</p><p>Will Hyakkimaru's presence allow Zuko to switch sides earlier? Will Hyakki and Dororo reunite one day? And will Hyakki and Tahomaru be able to forgive each other, get along, make peace with the past and learn to love and accept each other like siblings should?</p><p>This work is mostly written from Hyakkimaru's perpective, but the other characters will have their parts, too.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Hyakkimaru (Dororo) &amp; Iroh (Avatar), Hyakkimaru (Dororo) &amp; Zuko (Avatar), Iroh &amp; Zuko (Avatar), Nui no Kata &amp; Tahomaru, Other Relationship Tags to Be Added</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Avatar and The Boy Who Fell From The Sky [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1907644</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>26</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. The Yelling Prince And The Wise, Old Man</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>So, this is the first third of the main part. Please read the prologue before you start this. The prologue is just a one-shot.</p><p>Warning! The main character has ptsd and suffers from nightmares, flashbacks and emotional breakdowns, so if you don't want to read stuff like that, stop here.</p><p>About this work:<br/>I only owe the OC's. This will be a multi-chapter fic, the updates will be very irregular as I will update this when I write, ctherwise I couldn't post this for years. Hyakkimaru is the main character in this, so most of this will be written from his perspective (and in first person), but the other characters will have their sections, too (but in third person). If the perspective changes, it will be very clear.</p><p>Hyakkimaru isn't the most reliable narrator. And he doesn't know a lot about people. He doesn't even know how to tell if someone is male or female, so he will just refer to people as "they/their" unless he hears others using "he/him", "man", "boy, "she/her", "woman" or "girl" when they refer to a person. Titles and words like "father", "papa", "son", "grandfather", "grandpa", "uncle" and "nephew", "mother", "mama", "daughter", "grandmother", "grandma", "aunt" and "niece" aren't connected to gender in his mind, but to specific behaviors.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong> <em>Hyakkimaru (First Person)<br/>
</em> </strong>
</p><p>I wake up on something that’s much softer than forest soil, wrapped in a thin blanket. It’s quite warm. I yawn and stretch my body to its limits. But wait! Something is off! Why can I feel my arms and my left leg? And why does my back feel much stronger? And why does everything hurt?</p><p>Then I remember. I remember that I fell. I have to be dead. But I don’t feel dead. Am I alive? But how?</p><p>I open my eyes (why were they closed?) and they hurt. It’s too bright. Way too bright. I whimper and close them again. Back to darkness. Back to soul vision. I look at my arms. They are white, well white swirls with red sparks, but they aren’t green. No wood. Real flesh. I sit up and look at my legs. Both are white now, not just the right one. And my eyes are probably real, too. And something in my back, probably the spine.</p><p>This is weird. I haven’t killed the remaining demons, but I’m whole now. The new parts are still sore, and my eyes are way too sensitive, but I’m whole! I smile and tears run over cheeks. But… where’s Dororo. I have to find her! I try to stand up but end up on the floor. The thing on which I laid must’ve been higher than the ground. That’s weird.</p><p>I try to stand up again, but it’s all weird. I use my fingers to search for the thing. I find it. Now I put the hand on it and push myself into a standing position. It feels weird to have arms and two legs. I put some weight on my left leg and almost fall down, but I fall onto the soft thing, so it doesn’t hurt. It takes some time to get used to my limbs and I’m still unsteady on my feet.</p><p>Now I have to find out, where to go. I open my eyes again, this time I shield them with my right hand. It’s still unbelievable bright, but I don’t have to close them immediately. I’m in a room, I guess. A room what’s all black and red. The walls are black, the decorations and furniture are black, red, and golden. The wall in front of me is a bit different than the others.</p><p>I limp towards the wall and take a closer look at it. It looks like a piece of the wall had been cut out and then replaced by a piece that was a bit bigger than. There’s something like a handle. I pull at it, but nothing happens. Then I push and the wall opens. Oh, that was a door? Apparently…</p><p>Now I’m a corridor of black walls and more of these doors. The corridor is lighted by lamps. It’s much brighter than in the room where I woke up. Okay, which way should I choose. The right or the left? I take the left. There’s more light on the left side. I don’t like the light, but I during the day it’s pretty bright outside and I don’t like this place. I feel like a caged beast in here. I slowly stumble towards the light while shielding my sensitive eyes.</p><p>Suddenly something touches my shoulder. I flinch and turn around, swinging my arms back to unsheathe the swords. Nothing happens. Of course! Those are my real arms, there are no swords inside of them. Shit! I look up and into a face. It has to be a face…</p><p>     “My, my… You aren’t planning to go outside in underwear, are you? You would catch a cold, boy. Haven’t you found the cloths which were prepared for you?”, says the person. They are smaller than me, and probably much older as their face is <em>wrinkly</em>.</p><p>I’m confused, utterly confused.</p><p>     “Follow me, you really need those cloths.”</p><p>I don’t know what else I could do, so I just follow the person back to the room where I woke up. The person doesn’t close the door, so I guess I’m not a prisoner.</p><p>     “Ah, here they are! Walking around in underwear isn’t appropriate, young man. And it’s cool outside”, explains the person, then they give me something made of a soft, but thick material.</p><p>I look at it confused.</p><p>     “These are trousers. You wear them on your legs. I’ll show you how to put them on.”</p><p>And so, they do. My legs disappear in the warm cloth. Then the person makes a knot into the cord at the waistband before they give me another cloth.</p><p>     “This one is similar to the robes you wore when I found you, it’s just shorter”, says the person.</p><p>I can’t feel any malice radiating from the person. Which is unusual. Most people don’t want me near them, chase me away or try to do other bad things to me. I’m still wary of the stranger, but I put the garment on. Then the stranger wraps black ribbons over the sleeves from the wrists to the middle of the forearms and before doing the same with the trouser legs which are wrapped from my ankles to middle of my calves. At the end I get a pair of black boots.</p><p>     “Those are just lent. You’ll get your own cloths at the next harbor”, says the stranger.</p><p>     “Harbor?”</p><p>     “When you are travelling by ship, you need to make stops at harbors to refill your supplies of food, water, medicine and other things.”, explains the stranger, “And we are on a ship right now.”</p><p>     “Ship?”</p><p>     “A really big boat.”</p><p>     “Ah.”</p><p>The stranger smiles.</p><p>     “Oh no! I forget to introduce myself! My name is Iroh! What is your name?”, asks the stranger,</p><p>     “Hyakkimaru.”</p><p>     “Oh, what an unusual name! So exotic!”, says the stranger, “I saw you falling out of a hole in the sky. I believe you aren’t from this world, so I have a question for you. Do people in your world bend the elements?”</p><p>     “Don’t think so. What it means?”, I ask.</p><p>The stranger’s face brightens.</p><p>     “Well, in this world there are people who can manipulate one of the four elements, this ability is called bending. The elements are fire, air, water, and earth. Firebenders traditionally live in the Fire Nation, group of volcanic islands. Earthbenders traditionally live in the Earth Kingdom, the Earth Kingdom is the biggest continent and split into various provinces”, explains the stranger, Iroh, “Then there are the waterbenders. Most of them live on the north and south pole in the so-called Water Tribes, but there are a few waterbenders in the foggy swamp, too. Not everyone in these nations is a bender, there are lots of “normal” people, the non-benders, too.”</p><p>     “What about air?”, I ask.</p><p>     “The Air Nation, the so-called Air Nomads, was wiped out one hundred years ago by Fire Lord Sozin, my grandfather, a terrible man”, answers Iroh, “There were no non-benders among the Air Nomads. All of them their airbenders. They lived on the Air Islands in their temples, but most of them travelled around the world. They were a peaceful people. Even if attacked, they would never kill a human or animal.”</p><p>Why would anyone kill a bunch of harmless people? This happened in my world, too. Samurai would kill anyone in their way, even harmless people. Mio and the orphans, unfortunate peasants whose villages just stood in the way of approaching armies. And I was fed to demons so my papa could get more power. It’s just sick.</p><p>     “Humans horrible. Hate ’em”, I growl.</p><p>     “You are human, too”, says Iroh.</p><p>     “No, worse. I am monster”, I reply.</p><p>     “Why would you think that?”</p><p>     “I-I killed people.”</p><p>     “Did you murder them or was it a fight?”</p><p>     “They bad people. With weapons. Killed Mio. I liked her. Get very angry. Killed them”, I tell him.</p><p>Iroh sighs, “Well, I guess that was a mix of self-defense and manslaughter. I understand why you did it. You are not a monster. Because if you were, almost everyone on this ship would be monster, too. Most of them have killed before, including myself.”</p><p>     “Really?”</p><p>     “Yes, every soldier on this ship has killed before, even my nephew has ended the life of others and he’s not a soldier, but a mere boy, almost your age I would guess,” explains Iroh, “This ship was given to my nephew when he was banished from the Fire Nation almost three years ago. He can’t get back unless he captures the Avatar, but the Avatar vanished over a hundred years ago. You see, my beloved nephew was sent on a fool errand and he doesn’t want to see it.”</p><p>     “Banished?”</p><p>     “It means, that he isn’t allowed to come back. If he does, he will be arrested. You should know that Zuko, my nephew, was the crown-prince of the Fire Nation, but his father, Fire Lord Ozai, who is also my younger brother, had wanted to get rid of the boy. And he did at the first opportunity.”</p><p>     “My papa is like this. Papa fed me to demons, sacrificed me, then abandoned me. Hate ‘im. I was baby.”</p><p>Iroh seems disgusted, “First my nephew, now you. How can a father be so cruel to their own flesh and blood? I would have given my own life without a thought to save my son, but I was too far away, and I regret it to this day.”</p><p>I don’t know how to react to that.</p><p>     “Do you want to go outside? Or would you prefer to stay inside? The way you shield your eyes, I suspect that they are still very sensitive to light. I saw how they grew in, so I’m aware that you still have to get used to see their surroundings. Were you born blind?”, asks Iroh.</p><p>I shake my head, “Told you. Papa sacrificed me, fed me to demons. They ate everything. Hands, feet, nose, skin, eyes, ears, voice, even feeling. <em>I</em> learned, I kill demons, get body back.”</p><p>     “How did you learn that?”</p><p>     “I kill demon, get right leg back.”</p><p>     “When did that happen?”</p><p>     “When tree souls faded last time, but no hard skin on river.”</p><p>     “What do mean you with tree souls?”</p><p>    “Have no eyes, see souls. Now eyes closed, still see souls. Old man told white is animal, human, green is plant, wood, bright green is good spirit, bright red is monster, dark red is demon, black with blue edge is weapon, yellow is monster but not dangerous, other colors are ghosts, different kinds of them”, I explain, “Tree souls fade when other plant souls vanish, later walking gets difficult and river gets hard skin.”</p><p>     “I think I understand now. Before you came here how were the tree souls?”</p><p>     “Strong, bright. And many flowers, but not as many as before, smelled good. Dororo said, tree leaves dark green.”</p><p>     “Who’s Dororo?”</p><p>I smile as I think about the kid, “Dororo is small soul, talks a lot, is normal, can see.”</p><p>     “Then I would guess that it was early summer when you came here and autumn when you killed the first demon.”</p><p>     “Summer? Autumn?”</p><p>     “I’ll explain a different time. But tell me, when did you get your ears and your voice back?”</p><p>I don’t like thinking about that time. Noises were just way too loud and much at first, then there was Mio, but she died and I-I…</p><p>I notice that I started to tremble, and tears are forming in my eyes, I try to suppress them.</p><p>     “Tree souls still brightening, rained a lot most places. Got warmer every day. Very warm. Flowers everywhere.”</p><p>Flowers smell good. I wonder how Mio would’ve smelled. She died before I got my nose back. Mio…</p><p>     “So mid or late spring, I guess”, says Iroh.</p><p>     “Spring?”, I ask out of confusion (though I don’t know the word, too, this time I it’s really more out of confusion…)</p><p>Iroh laughs, “It explains a lot, but now I have even more questions than before. How did you learn how to speak in like two months? That should be impossible! You must be very smart then. Oh, wait until I teach you Pai-Sho. I will finally have someone who can beat me in the game! It’s so boring when you win all the time!”</p><p>Iroh seems genuinely happy over this idea. What a strange person… Then he looks at my face and frowns.</p><p>      “You look rather shaken, young man. What’s wrong?”</p><p>Only now I notice that I’m still trembling, and that the tears are now running over my cheeks.</p><p>     “Can’t explain.”</p><p>Really, I can’t. I don’t have the words to describe what I feel, what I remembered.</p><p>     “You look quite depressed; I’ll leave you for now. I’d like to comfort you, but I don’t really know you. However, I could offer you a cup of tea. And I know the perfect blend to lift your mood!”</p><p>Tea? Maybe an attempt to poison me? But again, no malice in Iroh, just… is that <em>concern</em>? Maybe I should accept. I can’t do any harm, right?</p><p>     “Tea is fine, I guess.”</p><p>Iroh’s face brightens again, “Very well. I’ll be back soon!”</p><p>And with that, the surprisingly stranger leaves.</p><p>I sit down at the edge of my “bed” as Iroh has called it. This is just so strange. This entire place is strange, Iroh is strange, I feel strange. My fingers feel over the soft bed. It’s weird that I can feel them, but I like it. This is how it’s supposed to feel. My left leg feels similar. My back, too. And my eyes are still too sensitive for the light. The new parts are still tingling, but at least I can control them better now. I’m sure my left leg would bear my weight now. It feels much more real now, stronger. So do my arms and my back.</p><p>I clench my fists, the fingernails dig into my palms, it hurts, but there’s no blood. I open my hands again and look at them. They are of an appropriate size, strong and sinewy, I can see blue lines (probably blood vessels), the bony knuckles and the tendons. Then I look at my arms. They are not too lean, but not huge either. They are strong and they look like it, but I’ve met people with much larger muscles. My shoulders are quite thin, like my entire body. I’m probably underweight, but I still have a good amount of muscle mass. My legs mirror my arms, not thin, but not super muscular either.</p><p>Everything is where it should be. I am whole. But I am also alone. Dororo isn’t here with me. And the one-who-raised-me is probably still in <em>my </em>world. It’s good, that I’m whole now, but I want Dororo and the person who-raised-me to see it too. I want them to be proud at me and happy for me. I don’t want to be on a ship full of strangers.</p><p>The demons are dead (probably)! I am whole! But… what now? Dororo had asked me that when we had left the hot spring, but I was too occupied with hunting the demons that I didn’t even thought about an answer. I can’t believe that this is over now. What am I supposed to do now? I have no idea.</p><p>My skill set is pretty one-sided. I can fight. I mostly use swords, but the one who raised me had also taught me archery and weaponless martial arts. I can write, but I know there are hundreds of characters I haven’t learned yet. I am really fast, very agile, I can jump extremely high and wide, I am a good climber and very strong. But excepts for writing all of my skills are for fighting.</p><p>I don’t know how to grow rice, or vegetables or how to breed livestock. I don’t know carpentry, nor do I know the art of sewing, forging, healing, weaving, cooking, or tannery. I don’t even know how to calculate. I only know how to kill, destroy, fight, and cut. And write.</p><p>But I don’t want to be a bandit or a samurai, I fight and kill because I have to in order to stay alive and protect my loved ones. And I don’t like to follow orders. But then again, a peaceful life as a farmer or craftsman wouldn’t fit for me either. And do those professions even exist in this world? I guess I’m a good-for-nothing. Someone who has no place in the world. And this isn’t even my world.</p><p>Dororo isn’t here, the one-who-raised-me isn’t here, the demons are dead, Mio is dead, I have my entire body back and I have no purpose all the more now that I’m not even in my world anymore. Everything just sucks. It’s great that I am whole now, but with no demons to hunt down I also lost my drive. I guess, that’s why being obsessed with something isn’t good. It drives you mad if you don’t reach your goal, but if you reach it, you’ll be nothing more than the burned-out shell of your real self.</p><p>Because that’s how I feel now. I don’t even know anymore who I am. I am certainly not the naïve boy who had left his home after slaying a demon and regaining his right leg. And I am all alone. Just alone. My anger and hatred are gone. There is no use in being angry at people who aren’t even in the same world with me anymore. And neither anger nor hatred can undo the crimes at the past. I was rightfully angry, but now it’s pointless. And now that the anger and hatred are gone, all the feelings I have suppressed until now are hitting me with full force.</p><p>
  <em>I’m back in the city with the demon sword. Its wielder attacks me. They are fast. They are good. Maybe better than I. But then I block their sword with my left arm, unsheathing it and slash. They fall down, they soul quickly fading. I killed one of my own… I’m shocked. By myself, my actions. The child brings me my arms, sheathing the swords. I’m disgusted by myself. I killed one of my own. That’s wrong, it’s wrong and wrong and wrong… Then my head hurts on both sides and the wooden things fall down and then everything is suddenly so loud, so loud, so horribly loud. I feel the rain on my skin, it is cold, so cold and soothing. I focus on the cold rain, focus on the noise it makes when falling down so I don’t have to feel this disgust and sorrow…</em>
</p><p>
  <em>I’m back at the temple, watching in horror as Mio’s soul fades away along with her beautiful voice. It hurts! It hurts so much! It feels like my heart is ripped out of my chest. But I can’t do anything to stop her soul from fading, all I can do is watching helplessly. I reach for the anger to not feel the pain, but the anger is fueled by the hurt, the helplessness, the deep sorrow, and the grief, so it’s too strong for me to control. I tear down the soldiers with murderous rage, disgusted by my actions but too angry to stop. Dororo holds me back, me who is roaring and growling like a feral creature, because that’s what I am deep inside, a feral, disgusting, evil beast. If I hadn’t went to kill the demon to get back what it stole from me, Mio wouldn’t have died. Dororo calms me down, the anger fades, but now there’s all the sorrow and grief and despair and guilt and disgust…</em>
</p><p><em>I’m back in the mountains with Dororo and this other kid, Saru, whose sister had been eaten by the flying centipede demon. The children have cornered the beast, but it got free. I was able to locate it via sound by using stones and arrows and the attack it and slash its right eye. The demon pushes me to the ground, I feel dazed, but I </em>will<em> kill it. I owe that to Saru and his sister. I stand up, slowly, unsheathing my other arm-sword. Now Dororo jumps onto the demon’s head, yelling at me to follow her voice. The demon moves, then Dororo is silent. How can Dororo be silent? She never is! She even speaks when she dreams! Fear digs its ice-cold claws into my heart. She can’t be dead, right? She was right there, but now she’s dead because I’m an incompetent fool. I try to call her name, but it sounds more like mindless roaring. I do it again and again, hoping that she is still alive and that she will still respond to my calls. She wanted so badly to hear my voice… It would be so cruel if she died before she heard it… The demon hits me with the tentacles from his head, but I bear the pain. Then Dororo answers, telling me she is near the demon’s other eye. She’s alive! I’m so relieved. But there’s no time, so I attack and slash…</em></p><p>
  <em>I’m back at the Banmon wall and there’s that man. The samurai who had ordered the others to kill Mio and the orphans, the man who would’ve killed Dororo if I hadn’t cut his arm off. He is the culprit, the one responsible for her death. His very presence makes me go back into killing mode. But Dororo is there to stop me again…</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Then Tahomaru appears, telling me that papa did something unjust to me but that it doesn’t matter, because now my very existence is threatening his people so I must die, then he attacks. What did papa do to me? I am fighting my brother. Dororo calls for help, so I end the fight by breaking my brother’s sword and cutting his face, then I run to Dororo, protecting her, and killing the demon.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Mama tells me what my father did to me, that he is responsible for everything I’ve been through, that helping me would doom the people of Daigo, so she couldn’t help me but at least she could share my suffering and then she stabs herself. I am shocked. I want to stop her, screaming “NO!” or “DON’T!”, but all I can do is muttering “Mama!”. Why would she something like that? She’s my mama, isn’t she? She should have protected me, papa should’ve protected me, Tahomaru should have supported me. It hurts…</em>
</p><p>I am sitting on my bed, clenching the pillow roll, as I am bawling my eyes out and tears are dripping down my chin while I am reliving those memories again and again. And the feelings that come with them. Despair, disgust, helplessness, sorrow, grief, guilt, horror, and everything else.</p><p>     “You know, it’s okay to cry. It doesn’t make you less of person, less of a man…”</p><p>I lift my head, looking into Iroh’s warm and worried face.</p><p>     “I brought you your tea, boy. It might help to calm down your mind. You seem to be in major distress, I would like to help but don’t know you nor do I know what caused your distress or how to help you…”</p><p>I am trembling with all those emotions, but I grab the teacup and carefully take a sip. It tastes better than any other tea I’ve drunken before.</p><p>     “Do you like it?”, asks Iroh.</p><p>Still shaken, I nod.</p><p>     “Tea is my passion! Just ask if you want another one, I’ll gladly make it!”, says Iroh, “Ginseng is my favorite, but there are so many other delicious blends.”</p><p>     “Better than water. It tastes, water doesn’t. If it does, spit it out!”, I reply.</p><p>Iroh laughs, “If you say so! My nephew rarely drinks tea with me, but I am always happy when he does. And he seems to enjoy it, too. I wonder why he resist it most of the time…”</p><p>I shrug. I don’t know Iroh’s nephew.</p><p>     “Very well, I will leave you then. Call for me when you want more tea.”</p><p>I shake my head, “Don’t go!”</p><p>     “Oh? Why is that?”</p><p>     “I-I don’t… I don’t want to be alone!”</p><p>     “Is that so? But remember, I don’t know you or why are so <em>distressed</em>. Nor do I know how to help you. You would have to tell me first… But we are still strangers so I could understand if you don’t trust me with this, especially since it must be horrifying, and you would essentially tell me your weak points…”</p><p>Iroh is right, we are strangers. But I have the feeling that I can trust Iroh as long as I don’t betray their trust first… I put the teacup down.</p><p>     “I’ll tell you”, I say and so I do.</p><p>I tell Iroh how I grew up, isolated from society despite the best efforts of the one-who-raised-me. I tell them why I left home, how I met Dororo and everything that happened after that. I tell them about the first person I killed, about Mio and the orphans, how they died, how I killed the soldiers responsible for their deaths. I tell them about the centipede demon and what happened with my family. And I tell them how I <em>felt</em> during all of this as I think it might be of use.</p><p>It feels relieving to talk with someone about all of this. Like a burden had been taken from me. And Iroh doesn’t judge or interrupt me, just listens. Not like the old monk or Dororo. I somehow manage it to tell my story without breaking into tears, but once I finish the story, my eyes start to tear again, and I begin to sob.</p><p>Iroh lays a hand on my shoulder. And I react to this by throwing myself onto them. Iroh freezes. They hadn’t expected this. Oh shit! I’m such a fool. So greedy. Always been. Someone gives me an inch and I’ll take a mile. He will push me away, maybe slap me. That would be appropriate, right?</p><p>But then Iroh doesn’t push me away and doesn’t slap me, but instead gently pats my back.</p><p>     “You’re safe here, boy. No one will hurt you. You don’t have to fear for your life, anymore. It’s okay…”</p><p>I cry against the armor on their chest. Why haven’t I noticed it before? But they have no weapons and they’re so kind, don’t laugh at me and make me tea and hold me while I cry. I don’t know how long it takes until my tears dry up and I just feel sore.</p><p>Iroh lets go of me, then takes my teacup in their hands and a second later, it’s steaming again.</p><p>     “I took the freedom to warm up your tea. It had cooled down. I guess, you want to be alone, now. Call me if you want more tea”, says Iroh and leaves, but not before smiling at me like I did something funny.</p><p>I empty the teacup and then put on a small table next to my bed before I let myself fall onto the soft “mattress” as Iroh had called it. Then I curl up under the thin blanket, clutching at the pillow roll. I feel better now. Still sore, but for now the overwhelming emotions have cooled out.</p><p>They will come back, they always do. I will stay have nightmares, the roaring of blazing fires will always bring back the memories of Mio’s death, while the cold rain will always remind me of the day where I first killed another human being, the howling wind will always remind of the day I fought against the centipede monster and being alone will always remind me of the day I learned that my family has betrayed me.</p><p>It’s my rumbling stomach that eventually makes me climb out of my bed and leaving my room. I wander around aimlessly, not knowing where I can get some food especially since I have no money. After a few minutes, I stumble into someone.</p><p>     “Watch your feet, idiot!”, yells the stranger.</p><p>I jump back, falling into a defensive stance. The stranger eyes me suspiciously.</p><p>     “It’s you. The stranger General Iroh brought back from his stroll. I will watch you! If you make a move to harm the general or the prince, I’ll kill you and throw your corpse into the ice-cold ocean, is that understood!?”</p><p>I nod.</p><p>     “Very well. Now go!”</p><p>I quickly run away, bumping into one of the walls.</p><p>     “Ouch!”</p><p>I stand up again and slowly walk towards the bright light from outside, closing my eyes and feeling my way along the wall with my fingers. Then I almost fall again when my feet bump against something. I carefully feel my way with my toes, noticing that there are stairs in front of me. I slowly start to walk up the stairs and then I’m outside.</p><p>A cool, but saline smelling wind blows into my face. The light is so bright, that it shines through my eyelids and colors my vision red.</p><p>     “Hey! What are you doing here! Don’t stand in the way, we are working!”, yells someone and pushes me aside. I stumble back.</p><p>Then another person pushes me from behind.</p><p>     “Are you blind? Out of my way!”</p><p> Suddenly, someone takes my wrist.</p><p>     “So, you finally found your way outside. How are you?”</p><p>I recognize Iroh’s voice.</p><p>     “I’m better, now. And hungry…”</p><p>     “I understand, then I shall lead you to the canteen”, says Iroh and leads me back inside the ship. I follow them like a lost puppy. Then they stop at a door.</p><p>     “Here we are. Now sit down, I’ll get you your food.”</p><p>I sit down on one of the seats. Iroh leaves but comes back a few minutes later.</p><p>     “You want to look at your food when you are eating…”</p><p>I nod and carefully open my eyes.</p><p>     “Do you know how to use chopsticks?”, asks Iroh.</p><p>And again, I nod.</p><p>     “I ordered your food mild. Fire Nation food is usually very spicy. Most people from other nations can’t handle it. I don’t know about the spices in your world, but I thought I can’t do any harm starting with mild food. I hope it’s mild enough. In the next weeks, the cook will slowly make your food spicier so that you can get used to it”, says Iroh.</p><p>The food smells good. There are noodles, something that is probably meat and vegetables in a thick sauce. I pick up some noodles with vegetables and put them in my mouth. I guess, I know now what spicy means. The food feels hotter than it actually is, but it’s delicious so I ignore the burning sensation in my mouth and start to eat quite eagerly. This is probably the best food I ever ate. Hundred times better than wild vegetable soup and even better than roasted fish with salt. The meat taste great, too. In the past I’ve only ate fish and poultry, sometimes roasted rabbit if I was lucky enough to catch one.</p><p>     “Do you like our food?”, asks Iroh.</p><p>     “It’s good, but hot!”</p><p>     “Here’s piece of bread, take a few bites and try to get the spice out of your mouth”, says Iroh and hands me something with a hard crust and a soft inner part. I take a good bite and chew on it. It actually helps.</p><p>Iroh gives me some tea after I finished the meal.</p><p>     “You can always come to the canteen when you are hungry. I gave the cook order to prepare mild food and bread for you. The canteen is open from sunrise till sunset. You can also come to the canteen when you want some snacks like fire flakes or seasoned strips of meat”, says Iroh.</p><p>     “I don’t have any money…”</p><p>Iroh laughs, “You’re our guest. You don’t have to pay for anything! Just enjoy your stay. Eat as much as you want, we would be horrible hosts if we would charge our esteemed guests!”</p><p>Can this be real? This has to be a dream, right?</p><p>     “If you want, you can watch my nephew’s firebending lesson this afternoon. After that, you can train with some of the soldiers. I would like to see your skills”, says Iroh, “Maybe we could then try to find out if you were blessed with bending when you came into this world. I think I noticed something…”</p><p>I nod.</p><p>     “As I said, you can call me if you want some tea. I always love to share it.”</p><p> </p><p>About an hour later, I’m sitting next to Iroh on the deck when someone with almost no hair and huge red mark in the face comes towards us.</p><p>     “Uncle! I finished meditating for today, now I’m ready for my lesson!”, yells the newcomer.</p><p>     “I see. Prince Zuko, have you met my guest yet? His name is Hyakkimaru, he comes from far away”, asks Iroh.</p><p>The almost bald person looks at me suspiciously.</p><p>     “From far away… Then he’s probably a spy, Uncle! Why did you bring him with you? Why didn’t you just leave him in the forest to die?!”</p><p>Iroh sighs, “Honestly, I don’t even think that he is from this world, he fell out of a hole in the sky and from what he told me he hasn’t even heard of bending until recently. Why should he even spy on us? Besides, he was a loner even in his world. The country he was born in is torn to shreds by a civil war, but he doesn’t obey to any lord. He is freer than we will ever be…”</p><p>     “People don’t come from other worlds! And they don’t fall from the sky, Uncle! Argh! And why is he here, like right now?!”, yells the bald person, Zuko, Iroh’s nephew.</p><p>     “I told you, there is no bending in his world. He is just curious”, replies Iroh, “Now we should start, should we?”</p><p>Zuko, the angry one, agrees and walks over to a few people in weird cloths. Then he (Iroh always used “he” for Zuko, so I’ll just use it, too) goes into a fighting stance, ready to attack.</p><p>     “Start with the most basic kata!”, orders Iroh.</p><p>Zuko nods and then starts to move. I recognize the motions, they are similar to those the one-who-raised-me taught me when I was young, but there are differences. Zuko’s forms are much more aggressive and straight forward, the offense is the defense. Each move is powerful. But the biggest difference is that there are flames coming out of Zuko’s hands and feet. It’s really impressive.</p><p>     “Firebenders are the only benders that can create their own element. The other three types have to rely on their surroundings. Waterbenders are useless when there’s no water nearby, earthbenders can’t bend when they’re on a wooden or metal ship. The airbenders didn’t have that problem, because unless they were submerged in water or covered in ice or rock, but no human can survive like this”, explains Iroh.</p><p>Zuko has to repeat the kata several times until Iroh is pleased.</p><p>     “That should be enough. We will continue tomorrow; you have to work on your patience and accuracy…”</p><p>     “Why don’t you teach me more advanced forms?! Azula is ten times more advanced than I am! I need to keep up with her!”, yells Zuko.</p><p>     “You are not Azula! And I won’t teach you more advanced forms until you mastered the basics, Now, why don’t you drink a cup of tea with me…”</p><p>     “I haven’t expected anything else from you, Uncle! You’re the fattest, laziest and smelliest man in the entire Fire Nation!”</p><p>And with that, Zuko storms off.</p><p> Iroh sighs, “He hasn’t always been like this, you know. He was such a sweet and compassionate boy before his banishment, even more when his mother was still there.”</p><p>     “Ah.”</p><p>     “I’ve brought a candle with me to find out if you’re a firebender like my nephew and I”, says Iroh and places a <em>thing</em> on the ground. It’s red, cylindrical and has a thread coming out of its upper end. Iroh takes it between his thumb and index finger and when he (Zuko called Iroh a man, Dororo told me man are always “he”) takes his hand away the thread burns.</p><p>     “I want you to sit down cross-legged in front of the candle and close your eyes, could you don that?”</p><p>I nod and sit down.</p><p>     “Now concentrate on your breath, can you feel the energy floating through your body increase every time you breathe in and decreasing every time you breathe out?”</p><p>I try to follow his advice and focus completely on my breathing.</p><p>     “I can feel it. It’s weird. It wasn’t like this before I came here…”</p><p>     “I see”, says Iroh, “Now concentrate on this energy. There should be an accumulation of energy in your stomach, can you feel it?”</p><p>     “Yes, it’s there. I feel it. But the energy is everywhere. It’s so strong. Though the majority is in my stomach.”</p><p>     “Do you have an inner fire? It should be located in that accumulation of energy in your stomach.”</p><p>     “Hm, yes. I feel fire. But it’s really weak…”</p><p>     “Now, concentrate on your breathing again. Breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth.”</p><p>I do.</p><p>     “The energy grows even stronger, now”, I notice.</p><p>     “Keep breathing like this, but now try out if you can feel the burning fire in front of you”, says Iroh.</p><p>     “I-I don’t feel anything… wait, I <em>feel</em> something! It grows and shrinks with my breathing!”</p><p>     “That’s perfect. I can see it, too. But calm down again! … You’re doing great. Now open your eyes, but keep breathing like I told you”, orders Iroh.</p><p>I slowly open my eyes and then watch in awe as the fire on the candle grows and shrinks with my breathing.</p><p>     “Well done”, says Iroh and blows out the candle, “Take it to your room. Practice meditation every morning and evening. Use a torch to light the candle until I taught you how to make your own fire.”</p><p>     “Meditation?”</p><p>     “When you sit down in a calm environment in order to calm yourself down, order your thoughts and for introspection. For firebenders it’s also important to meditate because it helps them to gain control over their fire. They use candles for their meditation and that’s what I just taught you”, explains Iroh, “The more candles you can control, the more control you’ll have over your bending in general. Zuko usually meditates with three candles, I use much more. You will start with one. Now bring it to your room and then come back. I want to evaluate your fighting skills.”</p><p>I nod, then I grab the candle and go to my room where I put the candle on the small table, then I head back to Iroh. Surprised, I notice a stand full of weapons.</p><p>     “The weapons on the stand are used by the Fire Army. There are lances, spears, bow and arrow, daggers, and others. If you know how to use one of these, pick it up and show me how good you can handle it”, says Iroh.</p><p>I gaze over the weapons, feeling over them with my fingertips. They are unlike anything I ever encountered, except for the bow. I pick up the bow and the quiver full of arrows. I throw the quiver over my shoulders and grab an arrow.</p><p>     “I’m sorry, but I’m a bit surprised by your choice. You don’t appear like the typical archer…”, comments Iroh.</p><p>     “I prefer my swords, but I was taught in archery and weaponless combat, too”, I explain.</p><p>     “The target was placed near the training area”, says Iroh.</p><p>     “What material?”</p><p>     “Wood. Why do you ask?”</p><p>     “That’s good. Then I can close my eyes. It’s too bright.”</p><p>     “Then show your archery skills.”</p><p>I close my eyes and take a deep breath. The ship was mostly built out of metal, so it’s invisible to my soul sight, just like the water. But this makes it easier for me to concentrate on the green flamed target. I set the arrow on the string and draw the bow. The bow is much heavier and takes more strength to draw when any other bow I’ve used before, it’s not too bad. It takes me only a second to aim, before I let go. The arrow hits the target with a loud “THUMB”. I pick another arrow, draw the bow again and shoot. I repeat this until Iroh stops me.</p><p>     “That’s enough. You can stop now.”</p><p>I open my eyes and look at Iroh.</p><p>     “Were I bad?”, I ask.</p><p>     “No, you’re far from bad. With that potential you could join the Yuyan Archers, they are considered the best archers in the world”, replies Iroh, “While you didn’t split the arrows with each other, they all hit the target within an area which is six or seven centimeters in diameter.”</p><p>    “That’s intentional. I didn’t want to destroy your things…”</p><p>Iroh laughs!</p><p>     “But are you able to hit one arrow with another one in way that the second arrow splits the first one?”, asks the old man then.</p><p>     “I don’t know. I’ve only shot at monsters yet. The first arrow has to kill.”</p><p>     “I understand. Then show you how good you are at weaponless combat. You will spar with petty officer Haruka”, says Iroh, then he waves at someone, “Haruka, would you like to spar with young Hyakkimaru over here?”</p><p>The person, Haruka, comes towards us and bows in front of Iroh, “Of course, General Iroh. I haven’t had a real challenge for ages!”</p><p>Haruka wears the same weird cloths as the people who have trained with Zuko. But now they put off their helm and uppermost layer of cloths. Now, I finally realize that these weird cloths are actually some type of armor.</p><p>     “On this ship, Haruka is the best at weaponless combat. And he is quite skilled”, explains Iroh, “You two will spar in the training area.”</p><p>     “Would you please follow me”, says Haruka. I put down the quiver and the bow and follow Haruka to the training area.</p><p>Haruka settles into an aggressive stance, while I settle into a neutral stance ready to attack or defend and we start to circle each other.</p><p>     “Now, start!”, calls Iroh.</p><p>Haruka attacks immediately, but I’ve expected that. It seems the entire Fire Nation is built after the expression “offense is the best defense”.</p><p>I am much more flexible, switching between strategies depending on the situation. If I want a short fight and am able to attack first, I always put immense power in my blows following the whole “offense is the best defense” thing.</p><p>If my opponent attacks first, I’ll go into defense, dodging and deflecting blows, until I get the chance to attack myself. The one-who-raised-me has taught me a lot of techniques, some allow a fluid transition from defense to offense, others are much more straight forward. And if I had to face an opponent who is way above my level, I would just stay in defense, try to avoid any injuries and wait for chance to either flee directly or attack a weak point to stunt my opponent long enough that I could run away.</p><p>I block Haruka’s first punch and I dodge the second. Haruka’s attacks get more and more aggressive, but I have no problems blocking them. Haruka starts to get frustrated and angry. Apparently, he usually defeats his opponents in less than a minute.</p><p>Haruka’s movements are similar to Zuko’s firebending. There are only slight changes, so I guess that either firebending forms developed from non-bending, weaponless martial arts or it was the other way around. Both are extremely aggressive and dynamic, always moving forward, pushing back the opponent, giving him no time to attack.</p><p>That’s the theory.</p><p>His growing frustration makes Haruka careless. This is my chance. I land a hit against his chest, then a punch to his face. Haruka stumbles back. Now, I’m using feeding my blows with power, though I have to be careful, so I don’t hurt him too bad. I force him back and then I kick him against the chest so hard that he crashes against a wall and crumbles to the ground.</p><p>     “You’re a monster, aren’t you?”, murmurs Haruka.</p><p>     “Maybe. There are demon sparks in my soul”, I say.</p><p>      “That was quite impressive. Now I know that you are quite good at archery and weaponless combat. But when I found you, you were carrying swords with you”, says Iroh, clapping his hands, “Petty officer Haruka, I would advice you to go to our healer. Petty Officer Lee, would you please get the straw dolls.”</p><p>Someone who has waited behind us runs off. But soon the person appears again, carrying a vaguely humanoid figure. And Lee is not only one. A few others are carrying similar things and place them in the training area.</p><p>Iroh stands up and throws something in my direction. I catch it with ease. It’s one of my swords. The one I usually carry on my hip. I put the scabbard in my belt and draw the sword. I touch the blade and flinch when it cuts my finger. At least, it’s still as sharp as ever.</p><p>     “Although a few crewmembers have learned the way of the sword, they have learned with much different swords which are usually double-edged and have a straight blade”, says Iroh, “So you can’t really spar with someone on this ship. Swords similar to yours are only used on Kyoshi-Island. This is why I want you to attack those straw dolls. I rather have you dismember the straw dolls than actual people. Please enjoy yourself.”</p><p>I step to one of the dolls and go into the defense stance, then I swiftly move into an offense stance, step forward and SLASH! The sword cuts the doll from the right shoulder to the left hip, slicing it in two. Then I attack the next doll. I destroy each doll with a different attack. After the last doll is beaten, I sheath my sword and bow.</p><p>     “It’s such a shame, that couldn’t see your true skills, but this looked promising”, says Iroh, “It’s such a shame, that I can’t let you spar with someone…”</p><p>     “I will spar with him!”</p><p>I look up to see Zuko who is now walking down to the training area, a sheath hanging over his back. He draws the sword and… <em>splits</em> it in the middle! Twin swords. They are shaped very differently from my swords but that shouldn’t be a problem. I might only have one of my swords right now, but I although I have used my twin swords much more since I left home, I was originally trained with one sword. I started when I was still quite small.</p><p>Zuko seems much more confident now that he’s holding his swords.</p><p>     “I should warn you! I was trained by Master Piandao, the best swordsman in this world!”, boasts Zuko and settles into a fighting stance with both of his swords. I quickly scan his posture; one sword is ready to attack, the other to defend. I settle into a fighting stance as well.</p><p>We start to circle each other, Zuko is the one who attacks firsts. I deflect the blow, then the next one while I watch his movements. Only sword attacks at a time while the other defends, but which role a blade fulfills changes after every strike. It’s a clever technique.</p><p>Zuko is quite skilled, but I bet he has never used his swords against anything but humans. I have regularly sparred with the one-who-raised-me, but I also fought against monsters and fighting against those is a whole other thing. It has trained my focus, my strength and speed and even my mind. I am much stronger, faster and agile than normal people, I can run faster than a horse and I am stronger than a bear, but there were always monsters faster, stronger or more agile than me, so I had to think, I had to be creative.</p><p>I actually enjoy this fight. Zuko fights completely different with his swords, compared to both, his own firebending (his sword fighting is a perfect balance of offense and defense, based on fluid movements, it’s nowhere near as aggressive as his firebending) and every other swordsman I ever met (probably because his swords are so different). This is the first time I fight with a single sword against an opponent with twin swords. It’s a challenge. And I actually can enjoy this because it isn’t fight for life or death. I smile while blocking another blow.</p><p>     “You’re better than I thought”, growls Zuko.</p><p>     “You, too”, I pant before I turn the table.</p><p>Until now, I stayed in defense to evaluate Zuko’s style of fighting and the pattern of his movements, now it’s time for me to attack. And so, I do. I attack him mercilessly and with all of my skill and power. Zuko is now in the defense but he is good, no one has never stood this long against me since I left home and the one-who-raised-me.</p><p>At the end, I win. My sword at Zuko’s throat. I sheath it with a swift movement, then bow to show him my respect before I hold out a hand for him to take. He does and I carefully pull him to his feet.</p><p>     “It was an honor to spar with you”, says Zuko and bows.</p><p>     “It was nice. I enjoyed it”, I reply before bowing down again.</p><p>     “Who was your master?”, asks Zuko.</p><p>     “The one-who-raised-me.”</p><p>Zuko frowns, “So your mother or father?”</p><p>I shake my head, “I was abandoned. Was raised by someone else.”</p><p>     “Was it a man or a woman?”</p><p>I shrug, “I don’t know.”</p><p>     “How can’t you know this?”</p><p>     “Couldn’t see or hear back then…”</p><p>     “Wait what?!”</p><p>     “I just told you. And I don’t know the difference…”</p><p>     “Seriously? Well, I’ll ask Uncle to teach you this stuff… and other things.”</p><p>Zuko is even more delighted after told him, that I can use twin swords, too. At this point, Iroh interrupts him to explain that my twin swords will need sheaths and hilts before he will allow me to use them in training.</p><p> </p><p>
  <strong> <em>Iroh (Third Person)</em> </strong>
</p><p>Iroh hadn’t expected this. Really, he hadn’t. When he had taken the boy with him, he had hoped that the boy would befriend his nephew. But hadn’t expected it to actually work. And not this fast. But here they were, bonding over swords of all things.</p><p>Apparently, they had both enjoyed their spar. At first, Iroh had thought his nephew would win. Hyakkimaru was only defending himself, but then he remembered the spar between Hyakkimaru and petty officer Haruka. Hyakkimaru knew nothing about this world and the martial arts the people here used, so he had only defended himself at first in order to evaluate his opponent’s strengths and weaknesses, only to show his real skills (or maybe only fractions of them) and then beat his opponent. The young man was really smart.</p><p>Though he had been surprised at first. Hyakkimaru was extremely insecure around other people. But when he touched the bow, held his sword and was preparing his fight with Haruka, all the insecurities were gone. He stood straight, confident and determined to win this fight. Iroh had allowed him to keep the sword after his spar with Zuko as it seemed to make him more relaxed.</p><p>But Iroh still remembered the boy’s breakdown in the morning. And after hearing the boy’s story, he was shocked. He had always thought Ozai’s cruelty was unmatched, but Hyakkimaru’s father was quite a competition for the Fire Lord.</p><p>He knew this was going to be hard. Raising one traumatized teenager was already hard enough, but raising two traumatized teenagers, one of them was probably stunted in mental and emotional age, knowing nothing about this world, would be near impossible. However, Iroh wasn’t a person to let down a person as vulnerable as Hyakkimaru. Zuko’s ship was probably the safest place for him in this world. As a firebender, he would be hunted down by the Earth Kingdom and the Water Tribes and the Fire Nation would probably send him to the war in a suicide mission like the one of the 41<sup>st</sup> division. So, he would have to bear with it. He and the crew.</p><p>But at least the boy got along with Zuko. That was important. The two teenage boys would probably wreck his nerves. Zuko’s wasn’t stupid, neither was Hyakkimaru, Zuko was hot-tempered and Hyakkimaru was probably not far from that. But where Zuko was straight forward and reckless, Hyakkimaru was cunning and versatile. Together they were a match made in hell. Iroh already knew they would drive him crazy. Maybe he shouldn’t have prayed to the spirits to let the boys get along with each other. But then again, Zuko really needed a friend and he got along with Hyakkimaru. There was no way, he would separate the two. Even if they would drive him crazy…</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Chapter Two will have section from Katara's perspective, one from Tahomaru's, one from Jukai's and one from Nui no Kata and of course of section from either Iroh's or Zuko's perspective and a long one from Hyakkimaru's perspective.</p><p> </p><p>I love Hyakkimaru as a character, in his own world he is kind of overpowered, but then again his opponents are demons and normal people don't stand a chance against those. But Hyakkimaru isn't just powerful, he is also quite smart.</p><p>That Jukai taught him archery and some kind of weaponless martial arts is a headcanon. Hyakkimaru usually uses the swords in his arms, but in episode 7 he uses a bow and he hits the same spot on the demon's head at least twice so it's very likely that he had received some training in archery, too. And I'm pretty sure that Jukai would've also taught him how to fight, if he should lose his weapons. He is stalked by monsters so he has to know how to fight without a sword or bow...</p><p>He was trained in swordsmanship since he was seven, so he really knows what he does. In his fight with Tahomaru during episode 12 he refuses to seriously attack his brother, although Tahomaru wants to kill him. He didn't see him as an enemy, yet, so he refuses to kill him. But when he gets angry, he loses control and will slaughter anyone he sees as guilty. Fortunately, he is usually very calm and only gets angry if someone kills or kidnaps someone he loves.</p><p>As said before, Hyakkimaru is really smart and knows what he does, but he is also quite cunning. He can't always rely on his superhuman speed, strength and agility to kill demons and monsters, he also has to use his wits. And he does. He waited for a demon at/on a bridge and killed it by letting the bridge collapse so that rips the creature apart and smashes the remains. Another time he hid the blade of a sword inside a pegleg knowing the demon would destroy it, so that he could then use the blade.</p><p>Iroh already suspects that Hyakkimaru is quite ingenious, but he definitely underestimates what kind of trouble he invited into his life. Hyakkimaru won't support Zuko with capturing the Avatar, but this doesn't mean that he won't support any of Zuko's other shenanigans...</p><p> </p><p>Zuko gets a friend, yeah! Hyakkimaru gets a friend, yeah! Expect the unexpected!<br/>Seriously, both teenagers are socially awkward, but for different reasons. Zuko has never had any friends before, but he will try to have some fun with Hyakki who hasn't had fun in a long time. Neither of them knows that normal teenagers do to have fun, but they want to have fun and so chaos will follow their path...</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Welcome in the New World</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Tahomaru is thrown into the world of A:TLA together with his mother. Dororo is slowly getting accustomed to the southern water tribe. Jukai arrives in the world of A:TLA and tries to build himself a new life in an Earth Kingdom town, but his skills as a prosthetic carver get the attention of the local government.</p><p>Meanwhile, Iroh tries his best to make Zuko and Hyakkimaru spending time with each other. Eating together, training together. And it seems to work...</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Second Chapter!</p><p>This one focusses a bit on other characters than Hyakkimaru, each with their own problems.</p><p> Hope you enjoy it!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>
    <em>Tahomaru (Third Person)</em>
  </strong>
</p>
<p>Tahomaru was sitting in his room, pressing a hand on his right eye. Eight days, just eight days ago he had fought with that demon of a brother and lost his eye. Almost half of his face was covered in bandages. And the wound hurt!</p>
<p>The palace doctors had done what they could. They had cleaned the wound, removed what was left of his eye and then stitched everything up. He was so lucky they had drugged him for the procedure.</p>
<p>     “It’s a clean cut, young master. It should heal well, especially now that we closed the wound”, had said one doctor once he was clear again.</p>
<p>Losing an eye was such a menace. His depth perception was really messed up, he couldn’t see what was happening on his right side and his balance wasn’t as good as it used to be. He would get used to missing that eye, but it would always stay a weak point. A <em>disability</em>. He hated it. It made him similar to the demon.</p>
<p>
  <em>(His brother, who had been wronged in any possible way.)</em>
</p>
<p>He shook his head, trying to will away the thought. But shaking his head gave him nausea. And seemed to irritate his eye wound.</p>
<p>Tahomaru wouldn’t admit it to anyone, but he still cared about his mother. His mother, who had neglected him for fifteen years to pray for the demon!</p>
<p>
  <em>(His brother.)</em>
</p>
<p>Now she had even tried to kill herself hoping it could ease his suffering. But that demon deserved to suffer! And to die!</p>
<p>
  <em>(His brother deserved to live. With his parents and his younger brother. He deserved to be happy!)</em>
</p>
<p>He stood up on shaking legs, supporting himself with one arm on the wall to prevent himself from falling down. His eye wouldn’t stop him.</p>
<p>When the demon <em>(his brother)</em> had destroyed his eye, he had left a long cut from his forehead over his eye to his cheek. There had been so much blood. He hadn’t realized that his eye was gone until the next morning when he came to in the infirmary and the doctor told him that he had lost his eye.</p>
<p>Every now and when, the eye socket would feel like someone stuck a torch in it, like the eye itself was on fire. The wound always hurt, but not like that.</p>
<p>Tahomaru left his room and slowly made his way to his mother’s chambers. She was really sick. The teen was looking around and when he saw no one else near he slipped into the room and sat down next his mother, holding on of her hands.</p>
<p>     “Why did you do this? Why? Why did you always care more for him who wasn’t there instead for me who was always near you? Why did you hurt yourself for him?”, whispered Tahomaru.</p>
<p>Salty tears ran down his left cheek. And burned in the wound where his right eye used to be.</p>
<p>Suddenly, a hole opened in the air and sucked both of them in. In the next moment they were floating through a void, when a strange circle with four symbols appeared. When they dissolved into a rock, a flame, a big drop of water and a whirl wind. The rock when dissolved into a green mist which engulfed him completely. Tahomaru could feel a strange energy floating through his veins and his entire body felt like it was burning from the inside out.</p>
<p>At least his mother had been spared from this, but now there appeared a hole in the void and he could see houses on the other side. He quickly grabbed his mother and then they both fell though it. The last thing he remembered was hitting the dirt road.</p>
<p>
  <br/>
</p>
<p>When he woke up, he had no idea where he was. But the bandages on his face felt fresher and a wet cloth had been placed on his forehead.</p>
<p>     “Where am I?”, murmured the teen.</p>
<p>     “In a nameless Earth Kingdom village three days northwest from Omashu.”</p>
<p>He didn’t recognize the voice, so he turned around. A middle-aged man sat next to his left side, treating his mother. Tahomaru was the son of a daimyo, he knew the names of any domain big enough to feed at least ten thousand people and the names of some smaller ones in their neighborhood. He had never heard of an “Earth Kingdom” before.</p>
<p>He asked the man about it, who seemed quite perplex that he had no idea what it was, but at least he was kind enough to explain everything.</p>
<p>Tahomaru began slowly to understand that this world wasn’t his. He wasn’t the son of a daimyo in this world. But these people needed help and Tahomaru was determined to be the hero they needed.</p>
<p>The stranger (most likely a doctor) was staring at the right half of Tahomaru’s face.</p>
<p>     “How did you lose your eye, boy?”, asked the man, “It doesn’t look like it was an accident, but you’re way too young to join the army.”</p>
<p>     “I fought with a demon”, responded Tahomaru, it wasn’t a lie.</p>
<p>
  <em>(It was.)</em>
</p>
<p>     “If you say so…”, murmured the man, “By the way, my name is Lee. What’s yours?”</p>
<p>     “Daigo Tahomaru, you can call me Tahomaru-sama, though.”</p>
<p>     “<em>-sama</em>? Sound weird. I’ll just call you Tahomaru, then.”</p>
<p>The young man wanted to protest! It was the height of cheek! Using someone’s name without an honorific was only allowed among family members and the closest of friends! Otherwise it was incredibly rude! But he ended up not saying anything. Different world, different rules, right?</p>
<p>     “Fine…”, he growled.</p>
<p>     “Do you know the lady?”, asked the man then.</p>
<p>     “She’s my mother”, answered Tahomaru.</p>
<p>     “Now, that you said it, you two do have some similarities.”</p>
<p>It was this moment where Tahomaru’s stomach decided to growl.</p>
<p>Tahomaru grew up as the son and heir of daimyo who ruled over a rich domain, he had always had enough to eat, had never been hungry. Never <em>this</em> hungry.</p>
<p>     “Someone could need some food, eh?”, said the doctor and left the room. He came back with a bowl which he handed to Tahomaru. The bowl contained some gruel and a few orange colored things.</p>
<p>     “Never seen a carrot?”, asked the doctor.</p>
<p>Tahomaru did not reply, but he started to eat. It did not taste very good, but it filled his stomach. He had never had to eat food like that before. But he knew he had to get stronger. Maybe the demon <em>(his brother)</em> was in this world, too. He had to kill him, so his people would be safe. It was one life for thousands. It had to be the right thing, <em>right</em>?</p>
<p>But before he could kill his brother, he needed to recover. His eye had to heal, he had to train his depth perception and his balance and he had to learn how to cope with being blind on one eye, before he could even think of fighting anyone, let alone the demon <em>(his brother…)</em>! The demon <em>(his brother)</em> was extremely powerful. Tahomaru had to improve his swordsmanship skills, too, if he wanted to win this fight.</p>
<p>
  <strong>
    
  </strong>
</p>
<p>
  <strong>
    <em>Dororo (Third Person)</em>
  </strong>
</p>
<p>Dororo was missing her Aniki. Sure, Katara and Sokka had accepted her into their family (and family was a <em>huge</em> thing in the Water Tribes), but they weren’t Aniki. But she got more than enough opportunities to distract herself, especially since she found out that she was a waterbender like Katara. Katara had tried to teach her all she could, which wasn’t much but still appreciated.</p>
<p>The tribespeople were nice, but their food required getting used to. It was mostly fish, meat (fresh and airdried), seaweed and seafood in general. It was really salty and fruits like berries and sea prunes were a rarity (and they tasted weird), but at least they had food. And everyday.</p>
<p>Dororo loved playing with the children. They were really cute and playful. There were no children younger than two years in the tribe, the reason for this was that all men of the tribe had left the village two or three years ago to support the Earth Kingdom in a war against the Fire Nation. A war which apparently lasted more than hundred years.</p>
<p>She knew war. It was part of her live since she was born. But in her world, war was different. Samurai were stupid warmongers, but it wasn’t one long war but hundreds of briefer ones, which wasn’t good either, but still better than this. The samurai were cruel and power-hungry, they destroyed villages, killed innocents but she had never heard that a lord had murdered every single person in a new part of land he conquered. That would’ve been stupid. If you kill everyone, there won’t be anyone left to work for you after all…</p>
<p>She was hoping that her Aniki was at least somewhere safe in this new world... Maybe he was a waterbender, too, that would be so cool. And if he were a waterbender he could be at the Northern Water Tribe! But she doubted that he had been gifted with waterbending. He was way too stubborn for one. He never swam with the tides, but always against it and yet he always won.</p>
<p>Airbending wouldn’t fit either. Katara’s grandma had told her that the Air Nomads had been peaceful and free, her Aniki was far from peaceful. Right now, he was becoming more and more like the demons he killed. Full of anger and hatred.</p>
<p>Dororo wondered if Hyakkimaru had gotten earthbending. He was stubborn, really, he was, but he was also really dynamic, he didn't stand still, but rushed forwards and backwards, rocks and soil weren’t exactly known for moving a lot without outside influence.</p>
<p>Maybe he wasn’t he a bender at all, but she doubted that. And firebending would fit him quite well. Anger and hatred were that the Fire Nation had an abundance of, and anger and hatred were <em>burning</em> inside her Aniki. She would rather have a non-bending Aniki than a firebending Aniki (the thought of her Aniki using firebending to tear his opponents apart was terrifying), but it was likely. She could only hope that he hadn’t been found by other firebenders to fight for them in their war…</p>
<p>She didn’t want to fight against him. He was her Aniki, always protecting her. But then she remembered the last words she had practically spat into his face and thought, that he would have a good reason to be angry at her and she probably deserved it…</p>
<p>
  <strong>
    
  </strong>
</p>
<p>
  <strong>
    <em>Jukai (Third Person)</em>
  </strong>
</p>
<p>Jukai had been busy giving prosthetics to the dead and worrying about Hyakkimaru when he had been sucked into this strange hole and then thrown into a small town. He had asked around and learned that this was most likely a different world. People had strange powers here, powers they called bending. He had no new powers but wasn’t surprised by that. He wasn’t born in this world, so why would he have powers?</p>
<p>He had also learned that this world was at war. The town he arrived in was in the Earth Kingdom, the Earth Kingdom was attacked by the Fire Nation. The war lasted more than hundred years and it did not look very well for the Earth Kingdom. The third big power was the Northern Water Tribe, but it had stayed neutral through the last hundred years. The Southern Water Tribe was reduced to few scattered villages and the Air Nomads had been wiped out by the Fire Nation hundred years ago.</p>
<p>The town itself was far from the frontlines, which made it attractive for refugees. Most of them more peasants, craftsman and traders, the Fire Nation showed no mercy. They killed and mutilated elders, adults, and children alike.</p>
<p>When one of the townspeople saw the contents of his bag (prosthetics and tools), they had more or less forced him to apply to the local government. He had never wanted to tend to any living people anymore, but it was obvious that the locals couldn’t understand why he wouldn’t help all those injured people when he was clearly able to do that. And they hadn’t accepted a no.</p>
<p>He had tried to explain them, that helping people was extremely hard and only seemed to make it worse. Their answer: “You don’t know if you don’t try. We are citizens of the Earth Kingdom; we never give up. You won’t either. You will try and try and try again until you found a way, but never give up!”</p>
<p>Now he was spending his time carving prosthetics for refugees and Earth Kingdom soldiers alike. At least the government paid him well, he wasn’t interested in money, but he was paid enough to buy food and supplies. It was obvious that these people were desperate. They couldn’t afford not to force him to help. He didn’t hate them for forcing him to work for them, he pitied them. Never had he seen people so desperate. Never so many burned, mutilated, and dying people. And he had had committed atrocities for Lord Shiba, crucifying and torturing people to death…</p>
<p>In his world, he had lived in Japan, a country of hundreds of islands, split into countless domains each reigned by a samurai lord and the lords would fight each other for land, money, and power. It had felt like the whole world was at war but his time in the foreign country had showed that the Japan was only a small country in a huge world.</p>
<p>This new world was just as big, but the entire known world was at war. And he knew from maps that the Earth Kingdom itself was huge, an entire continent to be exact. Before he had found those maps, he had thought that the Earth Kingdom was just a small country and wondered where all those refugees came from. Now that he knew he understood the dimensions of this world a whole lot better.</p>
<p>The Fire Nation wasn’t just conquering the land and killing its citizens, no it was wiping out their entire culture, their traditions and heritage. They had committed genocide in the past and they were still committing it now. This made his situation a lot worse. The Earth Kingdom was fighting a losing battle, but it had all reasons to not give up. Giving up wouldn’t mean being conquered but being annihilated. The stakes were incredibly high.</p>
<p>It gave some twisted sort of purpose. He wouldn’t mind dying, but there were hundreds, thousands, no millions of people who wanted nothing more than to survive. He doubted that he could help them, but he did none the less. He treated the sick and injured and gave prosthetics to those who needed them (to flee to a safer place, to work so they could make money to feed their families, to fight the Fire Nation, holding the Fire Army back for another day).</p>
<p>He was hoping that Hyakkimaru was still in Japan. A lonely traveler could easily avoid the samurai battles there and wouldn’t be caught in them, but in this world the war was everywhere and where it wasn’t right now it would come to. There was no way of avoiding it. He didn’t want the boy to get caught in such a cruel war…</p>
<p>
  <br/>
</p>
<p>
  <strong>
    <em>Hyakkimaru (First Person)</em>
  </strong>
</p>
<p>The next day, Iroh lead me to his room where he began to tell me more about this new world, the war, bending and a lot of other stuff. He was really delighted when I showed him that I can write, although I don’t know all of the characters. Iroh had then started to teach me how people write in this new world. It’s not much different, but some characters have a different meaning, look a bit different or completely unknown to me.</p>
<p>Right now, I’m laying in my room recovering from the mental exhaustion. Most people on the ship are surprisingly friendly. And I somehow get along with Zuko. We both know a lot about swordsmanship, Zuko could talk about it for hours and I might say a few sentences, too. I never had any friends except for Dororo who is like half my age. I know I’m not exactly the typical teenager, so the others tend the avoid me. Zuko doesn’t. Dororo might not be here, but I have someone else.</p>
<p>My room has no decorations at all, the Fire Nation emblem at the wall doesn’t really count. There’s only my candle and a torch.</p>
<p>Iroh told me that he will continue working on my firebending after lunch and that he would pick me up for lunch at my room. I have no idea when he will arrive, but maybe I could practice this meditation stuff before he comes.</p>
<p>So, I pick up my candle and light it with the torch, then I put on the table and sit down on the floor in front of. I close my eyes, focus on my breathing while feeling for the candle.</p>
<p>Yesterday I was really nervous, but now it has a calming effect on my mind. I’m still lost, with no goal, no motivation, no purpose, no drive. I still feel burned from the inside out. But focusing on my breathing and the tiny flame in front of me is soothing my soul, my very core. I can even feel the demon flames in my soul shrinking to tiny sparks, something they hadn’t done since Mio died.</p>
<p>I feel for my inner flame, but it’s still as weak as it was yesterday. I don’t know if it’s supposed to be like this, but I have the feeling that it’s not.</p>
<p>It’s the door which pulls me out of my thoughts when it’s opened. I sigh, open my eyes a bit and blow out the candle.</p>
<p>     “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to disturb you, boy. I came to you pick up for lunch.”</p>
<p>It’s Iroh.</p>
<p>     “I’m fine. And hungry. Let’s go”, I say and stand up.</p>
<p>     “Very well, then we should go to the canteen now!”</p>
<p>I follow Iroh who tells me a story about an adventure he had in his youth as we are walking to the canteen. I get the feeling that Iroh is a wise man similar to the old monk, though I prefer Iroh over the old monk to be honest. The old monk was always scolding me, and I still vividly remember that he practically screamed into my hypersensitive ears when I wasn’t used to them yet. It only made things worse.</p>
<p>Iroh is different.</p>
<p>When we arrive at the canteen, half of the seats are already taken. Iroh leads me to a free table, before leaving the canteen for a few minutes. When he comes back, he has Zuko with him and orders him to sit down on the seat in front of me.</p>
<p>     “Why?!”, yells Zuko, “Why would I want to sit with a peasant?!”</p>
<p>Iroh sighs, “Yesterday, you didn’t bother his status when you talked with him after your spar. Besides, Hyakkimaru is not a peasant, but a warrior. Or do you think that peasants learn to fight like this? They don’t. They learn how to farm cereals, how to grow fruits and vegetables and how to breed livestock.”</p>
<p>     “But I’m a prince and he’s a nobody and a barbarian! He doesn’t even belong to this world!”</p>
<p>     “Prince Zuko, this boy hasn’t done anything to you. He isn’t Fire Nation, but he doesn’t belong to any of the other nations either. And he is an excellent swordsman and for that he deserves respect”, replies Iroh.</p>
<p>     “You are right, Uncle.”</p>
<p>     “Besides, he isn’t much older than you are. It surely won’t do any harm if you spend some time with someone of your age…”</p>
<p>     “Fine!”, Zuko snaps, then walks in my direction and sits down in front of me. He is in a huff now.</p>
<p>     “Hi”, he murmurs.</p>
<p>     “Um… hello”, I reply.</p>
<p>An awkward silence settles in. I don’t know how to speak with people who aren’t Dororo. Zuko radiates what I’m feeling right now. Helplessness. None of us knows how to react to this situation. However, Zuko is the first to break the silence. I’m not surprised at that. He is around other people pretty much all the time.</p>
<p>     “So, um… Uncle told me we will be training firebending together…”</p>
<p>I shrug, “I wasn’t told.”</p>
<p>     “Oh… okay.”</p>
<p>Then there’s this awkward silence again because neither of us know what to say. It’s my turn, but I have no idea how to continue this conversation. I can answer questions, asking questions when I want to know something and stating how I am feeling, but holding a conversation… no. Again, it’s Zuko who breaks the silence.</p>
<p>     “So… what did you do, before you came here?”</p>
<p>     “Killing demons. Demons ate my body. I killed them, got it back. Part after part.”</p>
<p>     “Oh… How did that work?”</p>
<p>     “Don’t know. Demon magic I guess…”</p>
<p>     “Probably.”</p>
<p>I nod, “Hm.”</p>
<p>     “So, um… what’s a demon?”</p>
<p>     “Demon has red soul. Is evil. Eats people. Powerful. Can stop natural disasters, but you have to pay for it. My papa made a deal with them. Sacrificed me.”</p>
<p>     “That’s… rough, buddy.”</p>
<p>Iroh chooses that moment to appear at the table out of nowhere.</p>
<p>     “I see, you are getting along just fine. I got the food. Roasted duck with fried noodles for our esteemed guest. Sheep-hog fillet with rice and soy sauce for my dear nephew and fried cod-trout with rice and seaweed for me!”</p>
<p>He gives everyone their food and then sits down next to Zuko. I carefully try a mouthful roasted duck with noodles, humming with delight because it’s so delicious. It’s also even spicier than the food yesterday, but I ignore the burning sensation and enjoy the food. Then I eagerly eat the rest of the food.</p>
<p>Iroh is enjoying his meal, too, and taking his time, while Zuko is stuffing down the food with great annoyance.</p>
<p>     “So, what were you talking about?”, asks Iroh.</p>
<p>     “About… stuff. Yes, we were talking about stuff, right Hyakkimaru?”</p>
<p>I nod, “We did.”</p>
<p>     “Ah, is that so?”</p>
<p>Zuko and I are staring at each other.</p>
<p>     “Yes”, says Zuko.</p>
<p>     “We did”, I add.</p>
<p>     “That’s fine”, replies Iroh, sounding happy. I can sense that he feels satisfied with himself. What is his goal? There’s still no malice in him, just <em>benevolence</em>, something I haven’t felt from anyone for ages.</p>
<p>I’m the first one to finish the meal, then comes Zuko and Iroh is the last one to finish his meal.</p>
<p>     “Wasn’t that delicious?!”, says the old man.</p>
<p>Zuko rolls his eyes, “I’ll leave. We will see each other later.”</p>
<p>     “Isn’t that great, that you won’t have to train alone anymore, Prince Zuko?”, asks Iroh.</p>
<p>His nephew rolls his eyes again, “If you say so…”</p>
<p>     “He doesn’t mean it. My nephew is a bit difficult at times, but good at heart once you know him better”, explains Iroh, “Why don’t you follow him? The two of you could already start to warm up for the training.”</p>
<p>I nod and follow and the grumpy prince who seems surprised by this.</p>
<p>     “Why are you following me?”</p>
<p>     “Iroh says, we could warm up together.”</p>
<p>Zuko frowns the moment I say his Uncle’s name.</p>
<p>     “It’s General Iroh. Though I guess, he doesn’t care. But I do. He is my uncle after all.”</p>
<p>I just nod at this. Despite his behavior towards Iroh he genuinely cares about his uncle. And Iroh cares about him. The older man is just much better as showing it.</p>
<p>Zuko leads me to the training area where he shows me a couple of warm-up exercises, talking about them quite detailed. I guess, he likes to do these exercises. He tells me that the instructors in the Fire Palace had taught him those. He sounds nostalgic as he says that. I try to follow his instructions as good as I can.</p>
<p>Then Iroh appears and asks Zuko to show me the most basic kata. I try to memorize the movements as good as I can. When Zuko is done, Iroh praises him for doing the forms absolutely flawless before he tells me to try and do it myself.</p>
<p>     “To create fire, you need to focus on your breath. When you breathe-in, your breath will turn into energy, now you have to channel this energy through your hands and feet to create fire. But to do this you have to connect with your inner fire”, says Iroh, “Now show me what you learned!”</p>
<p>I close my eyes and make a deep breath, focusing on my inner fire, then I open my eyes again and give my best trying to imitate the motions Zuko showed me earlier. I am timing the kicks and punches so that they correlate with my breathing, but instead of the powerful flames Zuko made earlier, I only produce smoke, sparks, and a few weak flames. But that’s already exciting enough. I can make fire. With my hands. That’s so awesome!</p>
<p>     “Prince Zuko, would you like to share your experience and help your training partner with the forms”, orders Iroh then.</p>
<p>     “Of course, I will”, says Zuko, then he walks over to me and starts to correct my forms. Showing them to me again, then helping me to find the correct stances, positions, and motions. It’s really interesting. I pay attention, trying to learn as much as possible. We continue until Zuko thinks I am halfway good at them, though he seems confused why I only manage to produce sparks, smoke, and tiny red flames.</p>
<p>     “I don’t get it. You’re obviously a firebender, I mean you <em>are</em> making sparks and tiny flames. And you are doing the forms good enough, but your fire so weak. I have no idea why!”</p>
<p>He sounds angry, but not at me. At himself, for failing to teach me.</p>
<p>Iroh intervenes, “It’s not your fault nephew. You were doing everything right. I don’t think, Hyakkimaru’s problem can be solved with training. I assume, his problem lays within his spirit. You won’t be able to help him with it as you are still young and unexperienced. I will deal with it. Maybe I can find out what’s wrong.”</p>
<p>     “If you say so”, murmurs Zuko and leaves.</p>
<p>     “Can you help me?”, I ask.</p>
<p>     “I hope so. I think I know the reason why your fire is as weak as it is.”</p>
<p>     “Tell me!”</p>
<p>Iroh sighs, “Your fire comes from your <em>inner</em> fire. If it’s weak, you won’t be able to produce more than a few sparks. In these times, most firebenders use anger and hatred to fuel their inner fire, but you let go of those. A much better source is the determination to reach a goal. But determination should not be confused with obsession.”</p>
<p>     “What do you mean?”</p>
<p>     “You need a drive, a goal, something to <em>burn</em> for. Then use the determination to reach this goal to feed your inner fire and your flames should get much stronger.”</p>
<p>     “Want to see Dororo. Dororo’s in this world. Know that. But don’t know where. Don’t know how to find”, I say sadly.</p>
<p>     “I understand. You lost your hope. And with it all your fire. I don’t know if I can help you find your friend, but I have friends all over the world. I can ask them to look for your friend. Do you know anything that could help?”</p>
<p>     “Dororo is small”, I say and show him with my hand how small Dororo is, “Dororo talks a lot. And likes gold. Sometimes steals things. Gets into trouble. Have to protect him.”</p>
<p>     “It’s a shame, you don’t know how he looks like, but I can’t change that. I had already planned on contacting my friends anyway so it’s no additional expenditure”, says Iroh, “But to come back to your problem… If we don’t find your friend soon, you will have to find something to do. A new purpose. Like bringing peace to this world. Or opening a teahouse! This could help you to find a new goal in your life. It doesn’t mean that you should forget your friend. You should not. But if your friend is a true friend, he will want you to be happy. So, you should try to live a happy life to honor your friend even if you don’t find him.”</p>
<p>     “I… think you are right.”</p>
<p>     “Weak fire or not. You will continue to practice meditation and learning firebending katas.”</p>
<p>I nod.</p>
<p>     “Very well. You can now spend the rest of the day like you want. I’ll pick you up for dinner.”</p>
<p>     “Okay”, I say, then I walk over to rail and look out to the horizon.</p>
<p>There’s just so much water everywhere. It’s beautiful, yet terrifying. The sight is truly stunning, but who knows what creatures live in the depths of the ocean. And if something should happen to this ship, we would never be able to swim to the shore.</p>
<p>After a few minutes, Zuko joins me at the rail.</p>
<p>     “What are you doing?”</p>
<p>     “Looking at water.”</p>
<p>     “Do you miss your world?”</p>
<p>     “No. Everyone hated me. Except Dororo and Mama and the one-who-raised-me. And Mio, but Mio… was killed.”</p>
<p>     “That’s … hard. You must’ve really liked that person…”</p>
<p>     “I… did. Mio was… nice. I was hurt, Mio cared. And sang, really nice.”</p>
<p>     “I hope you find another person like this”, says Zuko.</p>
<p>     “And… you?”, I ask.</p>
<p>     “I miss my home, the Fire Nation, the palace and my mother. Mother disappeared a few years ago in the middle of the night. I don’t know if she’s dead or alive. And I miss Mai. She’s really cool.”</p>
<p>     “I’m sorry.”</p>
<p>     “Don’t. I’ll capture the Avatar and return back to my home!”</p>
<p>I nod. I don’t say anything, just nod. I’m a horrible liar. And I hate lying.</p>
<p>
  <em>(That’s not true. I usually say I’m fine when I’m not.)</em>
</p>
<p>Iroh told me, that Zuko’s quest is nothing but a fool’s errand. But telling him this wouldn’t do any good. He actually believes his father gave him a fair chance. But if he would accept the truth, he would also lose all his hopes. He would probably recover, but it would take a long time.</p>
<p>      “I should be sorry”, says Zuko suddenly, “I have a chance to get back and see Mai, my sister and my father again. You don’t have this chance. You will never see your world again. I’m sorry for that.”</p>
<p>     “Just want Dororo with me.”</p>
<p>     “That’s your friend, right?”</p>
<p>I nod.</p>
<p>     “At least you have a friend. I don’t have one. My sister has two. Ty Lee and Mai. Father spoke with their families so they would send them to Azula as playmates. He never did something like that for me… And I wasn’t allowed to go outside the palace, so I never met any other children…”</p>
<p>     “I was younger, lived near village. Other children lived there, too. Other children pushed me, hit me, tripped me up, very mean.”</p>
<p>     “Sounds like my sister. Azula does this to everyone, though. Okay, not everyone, Everyone except our parents. Must be horrible to have several mean children after you.”</p>
<p>     “Hm.”</p>
<p>     “I hope, Uncle can help you with your firebending. It would be nice to have a training partner.”</p>
<p>     “Hm.”</p>
<p>     “So, what do you want to do for the rest of the day?”, asks Zuko then.</p>
<p>     “Don’t know”, I say.</p>
<p>     “We could spar. Or you could show me how to fight with a sword like yours and then I could show you how to fight with dual dao swords”, suggests Zuko.</p>
<p>     “Okay…”</p>
<p>
  <br/>
</p>
<p>
  <strong>
    <em>Zuko (Third Person)</em>
  </strong>
</p>
<p>Zuko would not admit it to anyone, but he started to warm up to the stranger. Yes, that guy was even more awkward than himself, which made it harder but also easier to talk with him.</p>
<p>Harder because that guy wasn’t speaking much, but when he did, he spoke in ellipses and simple, but clipped sentences, which could be confusing. Spoken language seemed to be difficult for him, which made sense because he grew up without sight or hearing.</p>
<p>But there were also several reasons why talking to Hyakkimaru was easier than with Uncle or the crew. Hyakkimaru wasn’t biased, unlike his crew. Zuko was pretty sure that his crew was looking down at him. And Uncle was just weird. And liked to talk in stupid proverbs no one could understand. Hyakkimaru on the other hand never used proverbs. Sure, the whole thing about demons with red souls sounded weird, but not like a proverb. Red souls seemed to be a real thing in his world.</p>
<p>And Zuko could somehow relate to the other teen for a reason he didn’t quite understand. Both had been through hardships normal people couldn’t understand, but they had not only survived, but gotten stronger in the process. And they were both good with swords. Sure, Hyakkimaru’s sword was nothing like his dual dao, but it was still amazing to see him move.</p>
<p>And now he was teaching him how to use dual dao.</p>
<p>     “You use one sword for offense and the other for defense, but you have to change which side is which after every move”, explained Zuko and showed the other teen a few forms.</p>
<p>Hyakkimaru nodded and tried his best to imitate Zuko’s movements with the pair of wooden swords Zuko had found in a storeroom. Zuko corrected the movements until they seemed much more graceful and flowing. It was beautiful to look at. Hyakkimaru could become a master if he wanted to, but he seemed to prefer his own sword and style. Which was okay. But one could always learn from each other, right?</p>
<p>The other teen was learning quite fast, but Zuko could see, that dual dao didn’t really fit him. Yes, with dedication and lots of training he could master them, but it just felt wrong for him. Dual dao were perfect for Zuko, but Hyakkimaru was used to a completely different style and weapon.</p>
<p>     “I think, that’s enough for today”, said Zuko, “Would you now show me how to fight with a sword like yours?”</p>
<p>Hyakkimaru nodded, “We need sticks.”</p>
<p>And so, they went to the storage rooms until Hyakkimaru had found a wooden plank which he then split into two with his sword.</p>
<p>When they arrived back at the training area, Hyakkimaru showed him how to hold one of the planks and the basic stand, but instead of showing him forms like Zuko did, he settled for a more <em>direct</em> training method.</p>
<p>     “Dodge or block!”, was the instruction. Zuko only had a second before Hyakkimaru attacked him with the plank like it was an actual sword. He blocked it and was so stunned by the force that the next move sent him to the ground. Zuko gasped for air.</p>
<p>     “What the…?!”</p>
<p>     “You hurt? I’m sorry. Don’t know how to teach. That’s what the one-who-raised-me did. Dodge, block, attack. Fell to ground a lot.”</p>
<p> Zuko stood up, looking the other teen in the eyes, “I’m alright. Just surprised. I guess I shouldn’t. I mean, your caretaker couldn’t give you any real instructions. Let’s continue.”</p>
<p>And so, they did. It was brutal, but Hyakkimaru still made sure not to seriously hurt the prince. When Zuko was unable to stop an attack that could get him killed, Hyakkimaru either stopped himself abruptly or slowed the movement down so that the attack wouldn’t be deadly anymore. At some point he just decided that he had to go easier on Zuko and slowed down his speed to a more human level. This was really helpful, as it allowed Zuko so study the movements a lot better.</p>
<p>He could now see why Hyakkimaru’s fighting style was so unique. His caretaker hadn’t taught him any forms but taught him through trial and error. Hyakkimaru had learned what worked and what not, creating his own style, which was basically an answer to his caretaker’s style, but he had surely copied a lot from his caretaker, too. It was extremely versatile and basically a mixture of an already existing style with a unique style creating an even more unique style. His caretaker must’ve been a true master of the sword.</p>
<p>Zuko was used to dual dao, so learning a new style with a single blade was a bit challenging. But sparring with Hyakkimaru, even when the other one had slowed down so Zuko could actually learn something, helped him to get to know the other person. Hyakkimaru was straight-forward, yet always cautious. Never overestimating himself, never underestimating an opponent. And when straight-forward didn’t work he would find a way. Fighting versatile also meant having a versatile mind. And Zuko was sure, that Hyakkimaru’s mind was truly unique.</p>
<p>He had grown up without language, but he was quite intelligent. His thought process was probably very different when that of other people. Which allowed him to fight very different. Zuko got really curious. He wanted to learn more about the other teenager.</p>
<p>They stopped the “lesson” when Zuko was sore, exhausted, and covered in bruises. A few minutes later, Uncle Iroh picked both of them up for dinner. They were quite sweaty and much more content than before. Zuko couldn’t remember the last time he had gulped his food down this fast, but he was so hungry…</p>
<p>Later that evening, Zuko laid on his bed. The ship was heading for the south pole, Zuko hoped to find any signs of the Avatar there. But right now, the Avatar, his honor and the whole banishment thing weren’t that important to him. It could take years to find the Avatar, maybe decades. He would find him, that was for sure. And he would return to his home. But right now, his thoughts were somewhere else.</p>
<p>Today was the best day in his life since his mother had disappeared so many years ago. There was something to train with, learn with and have <em>fun</em> with. Sure, the sword “lessons” had been exhausting and painful, but also exciting and quite thrilling. He was looking forward spending more days like this. And even his firebending lessons had ended in a much better way than usual. His Uncle had seemed content with his progress. And after dinner, Uncle Iroh had finally told him that he could move one to a set of more advanced forms.</p>
<p>Training with Hyakkimaru seemed to do him good. And he finally had someone to clash swords with. Zuko was a lot more confident in his sword skills than in his firebending but sparring with Hyakkimaru had shown him that he was still far from being a master. It was… nice to have a training partner.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>To make it clear, Zuko and Hyakkimaru's first conversation in this chapter is extremely awkward because both teenagers are socially awkward AND the entire situation was forced on them. The second conversation went much better, because they were on their own. It was still a bit awkward, but much more fluent.</p><p>At this point, Zuko sees Hyakkimaru more as training partner than anything else (or maybe it's just what he's telling himself), while Hyakkimaru who has even less experience with other people than Zuko does appreciate training and sparring with Zuko, so he doesn't know how to feel about it. At this point, Zuko is the only male teenager he ever interacted with (besides the fight and a very, very short conversation with his brother), Hyakkimaru doesn't really know how to act around Zuko. But as a warrior fights are familiar territory to him, which makes interacting with Zuko in training and sparring situations much easier for him.</p><p>Both teenagers use theirs sparrings to get to know each other better without words. How someone fights says a lot about them.</p><p>About Hyakkimaru: In this chapter he has a lot more to do than in the last one. He is upset, because he thinks he will never see Dororo again and while he hasn't lost his will to live he has determination that drove him forwards. He enjoys the sparrings with Zuko, because they keep him busy and he spends time with another person without having to talk a lot.</p><p>Zuko: He might seem a bit OOC because he started the second conversation with Hyakkimaru on his own and this is still season one-Zuko. So, here's why he acted like this: First, they had had a firebending lesson just a few minutes before teh conversation and Iroh was really happy with him. So, Zuko isn't in angry mode right now and quite content with the lesson. Then he sees Hyakkimaru looking at the water with this melancholic expression. Zuko knows how it is to miss home and Hyakkimaru had been ripped out of his WORLD, so he had to miss his home, too, right? He walks over and speaks to him.</p><p>About Tahomaru: He really cares about people. But his father manipulated him to fight against his brother. Tahomaru couldn't just sacrifice another person for his people, so he had to dehumanize and demonize his brother in order to fight him.</p><p>About Jukai: He suffers from depression and thinks no matter what he does, he can't help (living) people and only makes life worse for them. Like treating someone's injuries and sickness is as bad as torturing someone. He wants to help but thinks that everything he does to living people only makes it worse for him. And the way he is treated by the townspeople and the government in the town where he arrived doesn't make it any better...</p><p>About Dororo: She is good at adapting, like the water tribes, but Katara, Sokka and Kanna|Gran-Gran who take her in and treat her like family can't replace Hyakkimaru. She misses him and she feels guilty for yelling insults at him. And she's worried that he's people who feed his anger. (She can't know that his anger is gone but replaced with the fear of never seeing her again...)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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